A catheter includes a tubular proximal shaft having relatively high rigidity, a tubular distal shaft having rigidity lower than that of the proximal shaft, a tubular intermediate section disposed between the proximal shaft and the distal shaft, a hub arranged near a proximal end of the proximal shaft, a balloon provided to a distal portion of the distal shaft to be in fluid communication, and a guide wire lumen having a distal aperture located on a distal end side of the distal end of the balloo...

A catheter for insertion into a cavity, duct, or vessel to permit injection or withdrawal of fluids or to establish patency of a passageway comprises an elongated tubular catheter body having a distal end and a proximal end and an outer diameter, a drainage lumen extending through the catheter body from the distal end to the proximal end, the drainage lumen communicating with an opening in the catheter body at the distal end of the catheter body, an inflation lumen formed in the catheter body, a...

A catheter for ablating tissue, for example to treat a cardiac arrhythmia, includes a handle, a shapeable shaft and a distal ablation segment. The shaft retains a first position until manipulated to a further position with the application of moderate manual pressure. The shaft incorporates plastically deformable elements and is shapeable to conform to an insertion path or the particular anatomy of a patient for accessing a site to be ablated. Once shaped, the shaft retains its shape as the cathe...

A technique for the treatment of ventricular tachycardia. The ventricles are endocardially mapped by way of an electrophysiological workup. This mapping locates the tachycardial foci and other abnormalities in conduction. A special catheter containing an optical fiber is percutaneously inserted into a blood vessel and advanced into the ventricle. The distal tip of the catheter is positioned adjacent to each of the tachycardia generating sites. A medical laser is used to irradiate each site via t...

A technique for percutaneous treatment of idiopathic hypertrophic subaortic stenosis (IHSS) and hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM). IHSS and HCM are diseases of the heart in which the septum of the left ventricle thickens resulting in reduced ventricular performance. Current treatments involve drug therapy or a medical intervention called an interoperative myotomy/myectomy using the Morrow procedure. The present invention uses laser energy delivered via fiber optics placed percutaneously to irrad...

A catheter includes a sheath main body portion, a first lumen, a sheath distal end portion, and a second lumen. The sheath main body portion is inserted into an organism. The first lumen is a passage provided in the sheath main body portion and through which a guide wire for guiding the sheath main body portion in an organism can be passed. The sheath distal end portion is provided on a lateral side of a distal end portion of the sheath main body portion. The second lumen is a passage different ...

The catheter includes an outer tube with an inlet end portion and a stop formed on the inlet end portion. The stop, which normally assumes a collapsed orientation, is moveable between a collapsed orientation and a deployed orientation. The catheter may include at least one of a diagnostic port disposed on the outer tube proximate the bottom of the stop, a locking device proximate the bottom of the catheter for securing the stop in the deployed orientation, and an actuator for operatively moving ...

A hydraulic catheter which uses a deflected jet to entrain thrombus into a discharge lumen. Multiple energy sources including ultra sonic mechanical and optical energy may be used with the deflected jet energy.

A catheter of the present invention is used for angiography and has a tube body (catheter tube) having a lumen, a front end opening communicating with the lumen, and a side aperture communicating with the lumen. The side aperture is obliquely formed from the inner peripheral surface of the tube body to the peripheral surface thereof, namely, from the inner side of the tube body to the outer side thereof such that the side aperture is directed toward the front side of the tube body.

A catheter (10, 10', 10", 10'"), in particular for insertion into blood vessels of the human body, having at least one sensor (32) which is arranged at the distal end (12) of the catheter (10, 10', 10", 10'") and which is adapted to pick up a spacing signal which is dependent on the spacing of the sensor (32) with respect to the vessel wall, and control means (36, 36', 36") which are connected to the sensor for taking over the spacing signal.